Life of All Worlds
by Axrat
Summary: It started with a fight. They all appeared in Healin. The Turks took measures to keep it controlled... Link, Sora, Riku and Kairi will have to meet new faces and travel between worlds to save their own, and get home... Nintendo-Square Enix crossover.
1. Chapter 1

**In the Land of the Stream of Life**

Swords clashed in silver blurs, the ringing of the metal blades sending birds flying in surprise from their nests in the usually calm and quiet forest. A seventeen year old in green clothing looked at his opponent, eyes flashing. Millions of voices reached his ears in noisy chorus, distracting him from his opponent frequently. His movements were quick, agile and graceful, while swift. Parts of his movements would remind someone of a fox, darting through the forests quickly. Others a wolf, savage and merciless, while at the same time he was like a hawk in his vigilance.

A shadowy figure darted around in front of him, dodging, blocking and attacking. The aura of vengeance surrounded it, as well as pure evil in its heart. With these in combination, his opponent was a cross between the lion and the snake; fierce, threatening and deadly, while matching the green-clothed teen in his movements. They seemed to be able to determine which move the other would make next, and they hated losing the element of surprise.

Meanwhile, in the forests, someone was watching. Neither was aware, until the green-clad man misjudged his opponent during a series of slashes, during which he spun with his sword out in his left hand. Therein laid his mistake.

While he was spinning, his opponent leaped into the air. The green-clad teen had no time to stop and block. But he didn't need to, as a ninja burst out from the shadows of a tree, red eyes gleaming. The ivory blade of the shadowy figure stabbed through the ninja's chest as they passed, and then deadly close to the green-clad swordsman's heart…

The rest was a blur. The swordsman, bleeding and near death, somehow managed to get himself and the ninja to a town. That and a blur of quotes swam in his head…

"What happened?!"

"It can't be!"

"Impa! He's blacking out!"

"It was my fault… I misjudged my opponent… and she jumped in the way of his sword…"

"Stay with us!"

"He won't survive if he remains in Hyrule any longer. We must send him to another world."

* * *

It started as a normal day in Edge, the town surrounding the destroyed city of Midgar. Everyone was going around, minding their own business. Kids were playing in the streets, as always. The shops were flooded with people; people buying and people selling. It was the tourist season, and the inns were booked. But this wasn't a normal day.

7th Heaven. Named after a destroyed bar in Sector 7, Midgar.

The bar tender watched the customers carefully, fully prepared to kick someone out if things got out of hand. It was like this every year. Tourists not used to life in Edge got drunk, were kicked out and after that? The 'family' living upstairs didn't care much. Something was amiss. Dogs outside started yelping with all their might in alarm. Sirens went off outside, headed towards the nearest medical facilities.

"I wonder what happened." Commented a man with a long, red pony tail leaning against the wall near the bar. "They were rushing an unconscious teen to a doctor. But, ya know what's strange?"

"What?" Asked the bartender, a woman around 23, 24.

"His clothing, and the items he had."

"What's weirder than some of the stuff we have?"

"That's just it! It's weirder than it, but no one knows what it's called." He then held up a red gem cut into a diamond shape. "Plus, he had a large bag full of these, but many different colours. Not fake gems, but real ones of an unknown kind."

The bartender only half-listened. The man's talk of all this seemed weird. Gems of unknown types? Ya, right. But little did she know, the red-head's talk was more important than either of them though... Edge would be turned upside down, and become home to some strange 'tourists' from out of this world.


	2. Chapter 2

**In the Land of the Stream of Life**

"The patent in E4 is waking up." Rang a voice over the intercom.

"That's good to hear." Commented a nurse who was leading the bartender from 7th Heaven, a twenty-tree year old with long, raven hair and wine-coloured eyes in black clothing, to the said room. "You may get to actually question him."

"Maybe." Tifa nodded. "What happened to his weapons?"

"The Turks took them for examination." The nurse stopped at room E4. "There you are, Ms Lockheart."

"Thank you." Tifa nodded as she started into the room.

This was becomming a regular occurence; people dressed strangely appearing out of no where. So regular, the Turks got her to help them out in questioning those people. This guy, well, he was pretty baddly banged up. Tifa doubted he'd remember what happened to him. In her left hand was a clipboard with many sheets of paper on it, most of them questions she was required to have answered. Luckily for her, this was only a part-time job, and Marlene, although she was only six, was pretty good at covering those off-peak times.

* * *

Link glanced at the door as it opened. He was still in his normal, blood-stained green tunic, but his hat was cast aside on a table, and his mud-covered boots on the ground beside him. His weapons, rupees, everything was gone. He watched the raven-haired woman enter. He was sitting cross-legged on the bed, hands in his lap.

"Who're you?" He asked.

"My name's Tifa Lockheart. I'm here representing the ShinRa Turks. You are?" Answered the bartender calmly. After doing this so many times, she got used to the introduction.

"Link."

"Link what?"

"Just Link. I haven't a last name."

"Oh." Tifa sat in a chair beside the bed. "How're you feeling?"

"Besides the fact that I just woke up having no clue of where I am, and my head's killin me, I'm fine."

"You're in Edge, Link." He gave Tifa a blank stare. "The town around the ruined city of Midgar."

"Edge? Midgar? Where in Farore's name am I?" Link raised an eyebrow.

"Who's Farore?" Tifa asked. Link gave her a dull look as if to say 'you're not too bright, are you?'

"The Goddess of Wind and Courage."

"Is that according to your hometown's beliefs?"

"Yes."

"Alright... Do you remember anything before you came here?" A silence lingered for a few moments, before Link spoke.

"Yes. I was fighting my Shadow in the Lost Woods, unaware of a good friend of mine watching. We fought for awhile, but I misjudged them, and they took advantage of that. They were about to kill me, when my friend, a Sheikha called Sheik, who's also the princess of my kingdom, jumped from the shadows and took the blow, but it went through her, and stabbed me..." He choked on a few words. "I drug the two of us out of the woods, headed for a near by village. I made it to the steps, then collasped. I then blacked out. I don't remember anything after that."

"Lost Woods?"

"A forest where trasspassers become walking skeletons."

"Sheikha?"

"A ninja-like race favouring Shadows over Light."

"Kingdom? Where are you from, anyway?"

"The Kingdom of Hyrule." Link answered. Then it dawned on him. This was just like the Termina incident. He wasn't even in the same world as Hyrule anymore. "You... wouldn't have heard of it."

"What became of your friend?"

"As far as I know, she made it alive."

Silence as Tifa scribbled some things down on the clipboard.

"How long have I been here for?" Link asked.

"A few months, I guess." Tifa answered him. "Just long enough for you to recover. They should allow you to leave soon. Now," Tifa stood up. "I'll be leaving." With that, she left.

* * *

Tifa walked back to the bar, scribbling answers down on the papers. She glanced up at a motorcycle parked outside the bar.

"Cloud must be home." She commented, before entering the bar, which had closed while she was gone. She closed the door behind her, smiling at the familiar setting. Some chairs were up on tables, and a spikey-haired blond man around her age was putting chairs on the remaining few tables. Tifa smiled at him.

"Hey, Cloud." She spoke.

"Tifa!" Two children, a boy and a girl, both around 6 years of age, popped up from behind the counter. They both had brown hair. The blond stopped and walked over to her. His clothing was a navy blue.

"Hey, Tifa." His eyes had signs of tiredness in them, but you could tell he was trying to hide it.

"You go upstairs, I'll finish up." Tifa turned to one of the tables.

"Where've you been, anyway?" Cloud asked. Both children looked at Tifa in alarm. Both of them had been told of her connection to the Turks, but Cloud hadn't. And Tifa doubted that he'd be very happy upon hearing that she was working for the company that practically ruined his life.

"In town." Tifa replied.

"What's on the clipboard?"

"Stuff."

"Can I see it?"

"Why? Do you need to?"

"Maybe."

"Marlene, Denzel, go upstairs, please." Tifa turned to the two kids, who nodded and darted up the stairs to their room.

"Tifa, I know you're hiding something." Cloud said, a serious tone in his voice. Tifa sat the clipboard down on the table and leaned against it as the blond with glowing blue eyes picked it up and read through the papers. "You're working for the Turks."

"No, helping out." Tifa replied. "You've heard of the strange appearances of people seemingly from other worlds, right?"

"Ya..." Cloud looked through the paper. "You've interveiwed four people so far?"

"Yes."

"What about Marlene and Denzel?"

"They'll be fine."

"You know what it gets like when someone gets too drunk."

"I know." Tifa nodded. "They're not the only ones. Reno's also interveiwing people."

"Just, be careful, Tifa. You know how ShinRa can ruin someone's life."

"I know." Tifa whispered. Cloud put the clipboard back on the table, and went upstairs, leaving the raven-haired bartender standing there.

* * *

A couple days passed, and Link was finally released into Edge. He hadn't any money, only something that told him to go to 7th Heaven as soon as possible, but he hadn't a clue where that was. His clothes were outlandish for this town, but without any money, he couldn't buy anything that fit in. Plus, his tunic was still blood-stained, as no one had bothered to wash it while he was unconscious. He constantly played the Ocarina of Time, hoping to feel the connection of magic he usually had, but it never returned. He felt cut off from magic, from home. Not even the Triforce responded to anything. The symbol just looked like an adverage tattoo.

Occasionally, a few people would listen to him play various songs he'd learned in his journey, and songs he'd composed himself. Someone threw him a couple 'gil', as everyone called it, just enough to buy a half-decent meal, that actually had meat in it. He wasn't sure what type of meat it was, but it tasted a lot like cucco. He was unable to read the signs, as the Hylian runes were different to the runes of this world. He sighed; he had no weapons, no money, nothing. A few more days passed.

One day as he wandered through Edge near sunset, the voice of a shopkeeper rang out. He reconigsed it almost immedietly

"GET OUT!" He looked over to see Tifa kick one obviously drunk man out of a bar.

"She's awefully angry." The man said in drunken slurr as he passed Link, tottering about and walking in zig-zags. Tifa then noticed Link as she turned to go back inside.

"Link!" She motioned for him to enter. He did so, following her inside. Standing at the bar was a man with spikey blonde hair and glowing blue eyes. "Link, meet Cloud, Cloud meet Link." She introduced the two of them, before taking over the bartending duties. Cloud, smartly, got out from behind the bar. Link glanced around at the pairs of eyes watching him, but took no notice. The bar was unusually crowded, much more crowded than the bar in Castle Town by far.

"So, you're Link." Cloud walked over to the Hylian.

"Yes." Link nodded.

"What happened to your ear?" Cloud indicated his left ear. Link's hand shot up to his pointed ear, and gasped. He couldn't feel a point on his ear anymore. He raised his hand to his other ear and found it to be pointed as normal. Cloud walked over to Tifa, noting the expression on Link's face.

"What's with him?" He whispered.

"I don't know." Tifa replied, whipping a glass with a cloth. She checked the clock. "One hour 'till closing." She told Cloud, who nodded and passed it on to the patrons.

About a half hour passed, and Tifa walked over to Link.

"What's wrong?"

Link shook his head.

"Want something to drink?"

"I haven't any money."

"On the house." Tifa turned back to the bar, pausing. "Just come over if you want anything." She added.

Link gave in a few moments later, but not knowing what any of the drinks tasted like, he told Tifa to pick something. She nodded, and handed him a glass of beer. Link drank slowly. It was the first time in awhile he had actually thought about home, about the Sages, Zelda, who, as far as he knew, could be dead. He got lost in his thoughts, and sat there until awhile after closing. Neither Tifa, nor Cloud bothered him as they started cleaning up.

"Link." Tifa lightly shook his shoulder. Link looked over at her.

"Yes?" He asked her.

"You haven't any money or place to live, so... how about you work here with us in exchange for lodging and a bit of money?" She asked.

"You sure?" He asked. Tifa nodded.

"Plus, we need someone to keep an eye on Marlene and Denzel, the two kids living with us, when both me and Cloud are gone. Marlene can work the bar pretty well, so we needn't worry about that. What I worry about is some of the drunks we get here."

"Alright, then." Link nodded.

"Here." Tifa passed him a plastic bag before starting towards the stairs. "Oh, the guest room is the one across from the bathroom." She added before going up. Link looked in the bag, seeing that it had clothing probably bought from the local clothing shop. He smiled, before heading upstairs, and into the guest room.

* * *

Link woke early the next morning. He had changed into the clothes Tifa had given him durring the night; a pair of black pants and a grey shirt, on top of which he wore a grey hooded jacket with the hood down. He headed downstairs, finding Tifa putting chairs down onto the floor. Link silently helped her with the remaining tables, showing that he'd get to work straight away. Suddenly, jolting both and breaking the silence, a knock rang on the door.

"Tifa, it's me." Rang a man's voice. Tifa walked over to the door and opened it. A man in clothing the colour of Cloud's, but more like suits than battle clothing, with long red hair tied back in a pony tail entered. He had goggles on his forehead, something Link had to stop himself from raising an eyebrow at.

"Reno, what's up?" Tifa asked.

"Just stopping by. Got your text last night."

"Ah." Tifa nodded. Reno turned to Link.

"Ah, so you're the newest edition to inter-world travellers."

"Apparently." Link shrugged.

"Alright. Tifa, Link, mind comming over today some time?"

"I don't." Tifa replied. "Cloud's got today off again, so I don't need to worry about Marlene and Denzel."

"Alright. I'll see you again." With that, Reno turned and left.

"He wasn't exactly to the point." Link commented.

"But it was brief. The Turks are like that." Tifa told him as they returned to preparing the place for opening.

Link served drinks while Tifa made them and told him which table to take them to. At noon, Cloud took over as Tifa and Link left.

"Where're we going?" Link asked her as they started walking.

"There's a building currently being used as 'Turk HQ' right now. That's where we're going." Tifa replied.

Link was still trying to get used to life here. The air stank. It wasn't clean like the air in Hyrule, and at times it was so polluted he had a hard time breathing. A gunshot rang in the distance, causing Link to jump.

"What... was that?" He asked Tifa.

"I dunno... let's check it out." She turned in the direction of the noise, where a commotion was starting.

"What's going on?" Tifa asked a light-haired man in the crowd.

"Tseng of the Turks just shot a member of a resistance band." Replied the man.

"What are they against?" Tifa asked, a look of familiarity in her eyes.

"This inter-world investigation." With that, the man turned away. Link and Tifa pushed their way to the front, watching as two people in outfits like Reno's started walking away - a man with black hair down to his shoulders, and a woman with short, blond hair.

"That's Tseng and Elena." Tifa told Link quietly. "We'll probably be seeing them again." Link nodded, glancing around. Whoever had been shot was gone. "You okay?"

"Hm? Oh, ya, I'm fine." Link replied.

"Let's go, then." Tifa turned with Link following behind her.

After a bit of walking, Tifa stopped at a three-story building, before knocking on the mahogany door.

"Who is it?" Rang Reno's voice.

"Tifa."

With that, the door opened, although no one was there, Link entering behind Tifa. The bartender led him into a high-tech room with a circular table in the center, motioning for him to sit down in a chair, before she sat in the one next to it.

They sat for a few minutes, before Reno, a bald man in the same clothing, and the two Link had seen in town entered, sitting in four other chairs on the other side of the table.

"Your name's Link, right?" Asked the black-haired man in a tone of authority.

"Yes." Link nodded.

"My name in Tseng, to my right is Elena," he motioned to the blond. "To my left is Rude and beside him is Reno, whom you've already met." Link nodded in reply.

"Where are you from, Link?" Elena asked him.

"Hyrule. Somewhere in another world." Link replied. "This isn't the first time I've ended up in a world other than Hyrule."

"What was the first?" Elena asked, curious.

"I fell down a seemingly bottomless pit while chasing someone who stole my horse, and ended up having to save that world from an evil..." He paused, noticing how stupid the next word would sound to them. "Mask." Elena bit her lip, in what Link could tell was her way to keep from laughing. "Magic's the lifeblood of my home, and the worlds closest to it, like Termina, the world I ended up in last time." Elena blinked.

"Link." Tseng spoke. "Can you remember from when you awoke, what happened the day you fell unconscious before waking up here?"

"Would dawn be okay?" Link asked, getting blank looks in responce. "I'd been traveling that night, and hadn't slept." He answered the unanswered question. Tseng nodded.

"I had reached the edge of the forest at dawn, and proceded in cautiously. I'd been sent there by the Princess of my kingdom to investigate something about an unnatural shadow tormenting the natives of the forest, the Kokiri, something identified by her mentor and guardian as a Shadow Incantation, created from the darkness in someone's heart, their opposite. After I wandered for awhile, I came to a clearing, where the shadow was standing in the center. I slowly moved closer, when he suddenly turned to face me. The shadow was _my _shadow, something I thought I destroyed years before. But his return reminded me of something; that timeline was destroyed to create peace." Link paused, looking down. "We fought for awhile, the entire time unaware of the person watching us. We could tell what the other would do next, and how to counter it, for our moves, weapons and abilities were the same. But I misjudged him at one point, when he used a combination of moves I normally wouldn't. A moment before he would've killed me, the person watching us burst from one of the trees, and got in the way of his attack, taking the brunt of the blow. His sword stabbed through her, and got me as well. I don't remember much after that..." The formerly silent Turks looked at each other, as if the tale was unbelievable.

"Why were you sent in?" Reno asked.

"I was the hero of the land, known in the legends as the Hero of Time." Link was going to continue, but Elena cut him off.

"The one chosen to weild the Blade of Evil's Bane, the Master Sword?"

"Y-yes." Link stuttered. "How?"

"We had another Hylian here a few days ago, along with a regular world traveller and his companions, who are residents of this world, and a few others." Elena earned a warning glare from Tseng.

"...S-" Tifa was going to say something, but stopped herself when the Turks glared at her.

"Who was the Hylian?" Link asked, trying to keep his excitement hidden, but failed, miserably.

"A ten year old girl." Tseng started. "She was weak, and startled. She always seemed to feel like something was missing. We sent her to Kalm with other inter-world travellers, where we're going to try to reunite people from the same worlds."

"What about the resistance group?" Tifa asked. "What's being done to stop them?"

"The Turks are working on that as we speak, Tifa." Tseng answered, before looking to Link. "We're going to have to ask you to go to Kalm in about a week's time with us." Link nodded. "For now, you two may return to 7th Heaven. We'll keep you updated."

Link and Tifa nodded, standing and leaving the building.

"Tifa, what were you going to say earlier, when Elena mentioned that they'd talked to some people a few days ago?" Link asked the bartender as they started back towards the bar.

"Nothing important." She answered as they arrived back at the bar and walked in. She walked over to Cloud, who'd been standing in the corner, watching the room. A young girl, only around six with brown hair, braided with a red ribbon tied in it, was behind the counter. Tifa said a few things to Cloud quietly, before taking over from the girl. "Go upstairs, Marlene." She said to the girl, who nodded and left.

Link watched the scene unconsciously, deep in thought. Another Hylian, here? In the town he'd be going to in a week's time? He had a bad feeling about it deep down, but he had to go to Kalm. He tried to think of a ten year old girl he knew, and came up with the names of a few Kokiri. He hoped that it wasn't a Kokiri, with all his heart. If it was... they wouldn't last more than a month, if lucky.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's notes: Okay... meh, this isn't going the way I originally planned, so I'll change the summary and title soon (changing it to 'Life of all Worlds'). It's still got the same basic plot, though. Don't hurt me.

I just realised I have a problem by the name of Aeris/Aerith Gainsborough. If this gets confusing, blame it on the Cetra, okay?

**In the Land of the Stream of Life**

"Link, where's Tifa?" The brown haired girl, Marlene, asked as she paused in mixing a drink for one of the customers.

"When'll she be back?" Asked the boy, Denzel.

"Soon." Link replied from beside the bar. "She's just gone into town."

"Why?" Marlene asked curiously.

"I don't know." Link replied.

"Does it have to do with the Turks?" Denzel tilted his head.

"...I dunno." Link glanced at the clock. "All I know is we'll be closing soon." He added. "Marlene, close the bar." He told her, then went to altert everyone in the bar of closing time.

"Well that's just swell." Commented someone sarcasticly. Link turned to see a blond haired man standing in the corner. "I was kinda hoping Cloud or Tifa would show up before closing."

"Who are you?" Link asked.

"Cid Highwind." Answered the apparent pilot.

"Hey, Cid!" Exclaimed the children in unision. Cid nodded to them in reply.

"How do you know them?" Link asked him.

"I was a member of their little group a couple years ago." He answered. "And you're... Link. Tifa and Cloud told me about you." Link nodded.

"You say that as if I was a monster." Link commented, refering to the tone Cid had used. Cid shrugged.

"Tell them I came by." Cid them left as the bar started clearing out.

"Who's he exactly?" Link asked Marlene and Denzel.

"He was part of AVALANCHE around two years ago." Marlene answered. "He got them the highwind, and was temporary leader when Cloud got really sick from something or other."

"How do you know all this?" He asked the girl.

"Listening into AVALANCHE's conversations when they're here." Her and Denzel answered at the same time.

"How many people are in AVALANCHE?"

"Cloud, Tifa, Barret, Cid, Yuffie, Red XIII, Cait Sith, Vincent." Denzel told him.

"There used to be nine..." Marlene muttered. "Before _he _came."

"He?"

"Sephiroth."

* * *

"If you went up this street on the way out," Link ran his finger along a map of the streets of Edge, ignoring a harsh pain in his left hand. Cloud was standing beside him, watching. The two were planning Cloud's delivery route for the next day. "Making deliveries along the way, then came back this street," He continued back down another street in the other direction. "You should be back quicker."

"That's true..." Cloud agreed, about to continue when Tifa entered the room.

"Link, Reno's here." She spoke. Link nodded, saying his goodbyes and leaving. Tifa then looked to Cloud. "Something about this doesn't feel right..." She commented.

"I know what you mean." Cloud replied.

Link was taken to Kalm by truck, arriving about an hour before noon. He glanced around the seemingly blue-themed town as he was lead to the square. All the people from worlds other than this one were in their normal clothing and stood out... He, on the other hand, had no clue what had happened to his tunic or hat, nor his weapons...

He saw several people obviously not from this world, two dueling it out with seemingly over-sized keys, a girl their age watching, a strange, over-sized blue hedgehog, a blue-haired prince, a ninja (whom, he guessed, was from this world) and all the while, the sound of an ocarina rang out. It wasn't playing just any song though, it was playing one he knew. He looked up on a rooftop, spotting a familiar ten year old Hylian girl playing a green ocarina...

* * *

Tifa woke the next day and headed downstairs like normal. Today was Sunday, the one day of the week she didn't open the bar. Cloud would've left earlier that morning to start his deliveries. She opened the door and headed outside for a walk, like normal. She was half-way across the crosswalk when the sound of a speeding motorcycle rang out, heading towards her. She looked in the direction it was comming from, realising who it was.

"Why is he..." She muttered as Cloud skidded his motorcycle to a stop in front of her.

"Get on! I'll explain on the way!" He ordered over the sound of the engine. She nodded, getting on the motorcycle behind him just as he sped off.

"What is it?" She asked him, noticing they were leaving town in the direction on Kalm.

"Kalm was bombed by the resistance group. No one knows if there were any survivors." Tifa gasped in responce.

"Why would anyone do that?" She commented.

"Why did we blow up mako reactors?" Cloud asked in responce.

"Because mako energy was killing the planet." Cloud said no more, apparently thinking of a responce.

"Yes... But ShinRa thought they were doing the right thing, while we thought the same." He said after awhile.

"Thought." Tifa echoed. They said no more as they sped towards Kalm, smoke rising in the distance. Soon, the destruction was visable; Kalm no longer stood, but was piles of rubble. She gasped in shock as Cloud skidded the bike to a stop. They both got off and darted towards the town.

Chaos what everywhere, survivors darting to find loved ones. Cloud and Tifa looked around, before Tifa spotted a group of people a ways away, one stuggling to get away from another's grip, pulling towards a child's body.

"Saria! SARIA!" He managed to pull away, and fell to his knees by the side of the child. Tifa then realised he was; Link. Behind him stood three people, all whom she knew; Sora, a teenager with brown spikey hair, Riku, a good friend of his with shoulder-length silver hair, and Yuffie, a ninja and resident of this world.

"Link, she's gone." Riku said, rather bluntly.

"How... why..." Link punched the ground.

"Why do you care about her so much?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"We were childhood friends." Link replied.

"How?" Tifa spoke as her and Cloud approached. The girl Link was beside was obviously Hylian, identifiably by the pointed ears, and only around ten. Her hair was bright green, as well as her clothing. "She's a child!"

"An everchild, you mean." Link replied. "She's a Kokiri, a race that never ages." He picked up the girl's body, stood, and walked off.

"Link!" Sora called after him.

Link left Saria in a crevice he dug from the rubble, then sat on what remained of the house he'd seen her the day before, and had talked to her earlier that day. It was hard, remembering what had transpired earlier, but he couldn't help it.

_"You seem worried, why?" Saria asked Link, who was sitting on the edge of the roof, she standing behind him a ways. _

_"No reason." He replied, half-heartedly. Saria watched him for a little while, before he spoke again. "How's Zelda?" _

_"Oh Link..." Saria stepped quickly forwards worriedly, but stopped after two steps. "Link..." She said again. "Zelda... Zelda was dead before you even got to Kakariko." Link looked stung, and in shock. She sat beside him. "You knew that, too. You knew when you got to Kakariko. You knew before you were sent here... you told us all about the fight and what happened... you said that you misjudged your opponent, and that she got in the way..." Saria paused, getting her train of thought together. "When you got to Kakariko, you wouldn't let anyone near you or her. Both of you were covered in each other's blood. You had crawled on your hands and knees from the Lost Woods, carrying her with you..." _

_"Dead..." Link managed to get out. "She's... dead?" _

_"Ye-" Saria was cut off by an explosion that blew half the town up, sending them flying. _

"Link." The voice jolted him from his thoughts. He turned to see Tifa behind him. "Are you okay?" No responce as Link looked away. "You made quick friends with Sora." She commented, sitting beside him.

"I guess." Link replied. "I found out what happened to Zelda."

"Who?" Tifa blinked, surprised by the sudden change of subject.

"The one who saved me from my shadow."

"Oh yeah..." Tifa cursed mentally.

"She didn't make it."

"I... I'm sorry, Link." Tifa looked down. "You've seen a lot of death, haven't you?" Link nodded. "I know what it's like to have those close to you die... Four good friends of mine were all killed around two to three years ago, before Midgar was destroyed."

"What happened?" Link asked.

"Three died when ShinRa crushed Sector 7 in Midgar, the other was murdered by a man named-"

"Sephiroth." Link finished. "Sora's told me about him." He added, leaving out the incident where Marlene and Denzel told him about Sephiroth.

"Sora would know." Tifa replied. "Aeris was a friend of his." A pause. "Or Aerith. Whichever." Link nodded. "She went by both names." Tifa told him. "It got a bit confusing after awhile."

"I know the feeling." Link replied. "When I started my journey, I met Princess Zelda after sneaking into the castle. Seven years later, when I started my quest to find the Six Sages, I 'met' Sheik, whom, at the time, I thought was a Sheikha boy. When I found all the Sages, Sheik revealed himself to be Zelda, so, Sheik was actually the princess I had met seven years before..."

"That does get confusing." Tifa scratched her head. "You lost me somewhere in there." Link sighed in response. "So... Sheik was a girl pretending to be a guy for what reason?"

"She was in hiding from Ganondorf, a mad man trying to destroy Hyrule and take the power of the Triforce." Link indecated the symbol on his left hand. "He got his hands on all three peices, but wasn't fit to weild them all, so they split into three; the Triforce of Power, Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage. Zelda was given Wisdom, I Courage while Ganondorf kept Power. I later defeated Ganondorf. What became of his Triforce peice is a mystery to me."

"So that's what that mark means..." Tifa commented.

"The Triforce... screams from inside me. I can feel it tearing apart at my spirit, earning for the familiar pressence of Farore's magic, and the other two Triforce peices. They pull towards each other for all eternity." Link looked at the symbol on his hand. "It calmed down near Saria, but now that she's gone..."

"It's tearing you apart." Tifa finished.

"The pain is unbareable at times... I don't know how I can live with it at times... others I just wish I could take the Triforce and throw it away..."

"Link..." They both looked behind them to see a woman with hair in between her shoulders and chin in length. Some of her hair was knee-length, and that was in a ponytail with leather wrapped around it. Her irises were off colour; one was green, the other blue. She had a white, strapless shirt with a pink hood. Her boots were knee-high and black. Three layers of fabric, like half of a mexican skirt, were on her left hip, with a brown leather bag attached to a belt above. "I can't see why anyone would be called Link." He growled in responce. "Eyes of a beast... pointed ears... answers to Link..." A pause. "Found him!" She turned and ran off.

"What the hell?" Tifa muttered.

"Yuna's human sized now?" Sora seemed to come out of no where. "Since when?"

"You tell me." Answered Link. "I have no know who she is."

"The Yu in YuRiPa, the Y in YRP, Yuna." Riku walked up beside Sora. "Yuna, Rikku," He paused at the familiarity to his own name. "Paine."

"Two Rikus?" Link blinked.

"Spelt differently, though." Sora told him. "R-i-k-u and R-i-double k-u"

"...Okay..." Link paused.

"What was that about though... why would she be looking for Link?" The ninja from the day before, Yuffie by name, appeared behind them in a puff of smoke that brought memories back to Link.

"Who knows." Link muttered. "Who is Sephiroth?" He asked out of _nowhere, _causing everyone to look over at him in either surprise, shock or alarm. "Marlene said that 'there were nine in AVALANCHE, before _he_ came.'" He quoted the young girl's phrase.

"He was once considered a hero by everyone. First class SOLDIER and believed to be the strongest of them all." Tifa looked down. "Many joined SOLDIER to be like him, including Cloud-"

"He destroyed Nibelheim, killed the townsfolk and ended up destroying Midgar via Meteor." Cloud came out of nowhere. "And murdered Aeris."

"He's like Ganon in a sense." Muttered Link. "The only thing Ganon couldn't destroy was the Triforce itself, but he wanted those with its life, and because of that, he could not completely destroy Hyrule. Not with me asleep and Zelda dissappearing..."

"Asleep?" Sora asked.

"I drew the Master Sword from its pedistool seven years to early, and was put to sleep in the Sacred Realm. I woke somewhere around my 17th birthday, as far as I could tell." Replied Link. "Myself and Zelda held the other two Triforce peices, Wisdom and Courage. Ganon had Power."

"All evil is the same. They all want power." Riku crossed his arms.

"Ain't that true." Link nodded.

"Sora." Elena darted up to them from a crowd. "Is anyone who came here with you from your world missing?"

"Kairi." Answered Sora. "We haven't seen her since the explosion. Everyone else is accounted for."

"Alright. Thanks." Elena turned to Link. "Anyone from your world?"

"Saria's dead." Answered Link. "That's the only one from my world I saw here." He added.

"Sorry." Elena turned and left.

Sora looked up at the sky. "I wonder... This world never had a pathway to any of the other worlds I've visted. How'd we get here, and how do we get back, if that's the case?"

"Maybe a new pathway opened. Worlds seem to be opening new ones all the time." Riku commented from where he was leaning against the partly-melted remains of a lampost, frozen after having cooled down after the explosion.

"He's got a point." Tifa commented.

"Yeah..." Sora pondered a few things. "Why do you think we've all been brought here? I mean, we're all heroes of our own worlds..."

"From my experiance in Termina, when the worlds need help, they'll call the closest hero, and open a portal or pathway or something. In my case, I fell down a bottom less pit." Link started. "Anyway, I'm going to guess that the heroes survived the explosion..."

"What about Kairi?" Sora interupted. Link was about to answer, when a girl's scream rang out...

"KAIRI!" Everyone looked in the direction of the scream in alarm. Sora, Riku and Link all darted in the direction it came from...


	4. Chapter 4

Author's notes: I hope not many people got too confused with the title change...

**Life of All Worlds**

The trio rushed to the scene, spotting Kairi on her knees, hands in her lap. Her red-purple hair was in front of her eyes, and she was looking at the ground. Her clothing was a pink, short, denim dress, which only reached half-way to her knees. She glanced up in alarm as Link, Riku and Sora slid to a stop.

"Kairi!" Sora darted forwards. But he missed a slight detail...

The silver blade held to Kairi's neck, clouded from the dust in the area from the explosion. Riku seemed to have noticed it, having stopped just after he started towards Kairi.

"Sora..." Kairi looked on the verge of tears, before managing. "It's a trap!"

Sora slid to a stop, but too late. The sword, seemingly controlled by someone hiding in the shadows, raised itself to slice into Sora's head...

Link darted forwards...

He pushed Sora to the side, causing him to fall to the ground as the blade came down...

But it bounced off of a blue-green shield around him consisting of hexagons. He glanced back to see Yuffie and Tifa nearby as it disappeared, a green orb glowing in a golf ball-sized slot in Yuffie's pinwheel.

"You're quite the daredevil." Tifa commented, crossing her arms. Link didn't reply, more occupied with who had just stepped out of the shadows. Sora got to his feet.

"Kairi, run." Link whispered to the girl, who darted to her feet towards Sora, standing behind him as they walked backwards toward Riku.

What occupied Link? The man who had stepped from the shadows was _his _shadow...

"Shadow Link." Link spoke.

"I'm surprised you survived, Link." His shadow crossed his arms. He looked just like Link, only his hair was black, eyes crimson and skin pale. He wore a tunic like the one Link had, but his was black, unlike Link's green one. "Then again, you'd think I wouldn't be, having been here a good few times." He glanced behind him. "EnUkAn. Tell the others to get ready." Link could have sworn he heard a gunshot after Shadow Link said that... Shadow Link turned back to his light version. "So, Link." He started circling. "Do you wonder why I haven't killed you yet?"

"Not really." Link watched Shadow Link. "But, why haven't you?" His shadow handed Link his sword in response.

"Slash at me." He said. Link bit his tongue. _There's gotta be a catch... _He pondered, before slashing Shadow Link's right arm. Link cried out in pain, dropping the sword and clutching his left arm as he fell to his knees.

"That," He paused. "Would be the catch." He pulled his hand away. The gash he left on his shadow's right arm appeared on his left. Shadow Link leaned over and whispered to Link:

"That is why." The shadow incantation started walking away, taking the sword. "I cannot harm you- much less you harm me- without hurting myself-or you yourself." Link growled, getting to his feet. "I am finished here." Shadow Link turned and vanished into the shadow he came form, but paused. "Beware of those you think are your friends." He warned, then vanished.

"What'd he mean by that?" Link muttered, still clutching his arm.

"Link, let me heal your arm." Sora walked upto him. Link nodded, moving his hand from the gash. Sora's Keyblade, Kingdom Key, appeared in his hand. Standing a few steps back, Sora pointed the Keyblade at Link, and it glowed for a moment, before green sparks circled the Hero of Time, and his wound slowly healed. Kingdom Key vanished, and Sora nodded. Link smiled, before looking up. "Who is EnUkAn?" He asked aloud.

"I don't know." Tifa shrugged.

"It's Minish, I can figure that out..." Link commented.

"How?" Sora asked.

"I... don't know. I'm going to guess that it's the effect of the Jabber Nut the Minish gave me." Everyone blinked at Link. "A food that allows the person who eats it to speak and understand Minish." Everyone nodded slowly, as if Link was a weirdo. "Cucko or cucco." Link muttered under his breath.

"What'll we do now?" Kairi rang suddenly. She was sitting down, leaning against a wall, top half crumbled, bottom half intact.

"Well," Link bit his lip. "We need to get home. That's for certain. It's also certain that we can't just use magic and teleport home right here right now..."

"We can find a way home." Sora declared. "Start in the area and branch out."

"Healin alone is quite large, plus you'd have to get past the marsh..." Tifa bit her lip.

"Marsh? No problem!" Sora exclaimed.

"You haven't met Midgar Zolem." Yuffie crossed her arms, strangely serious, considering her hyper nature, which meant this Midgar Zolem wasn't something to be mucked with.

"Okay... who is Midgar Zolem?" Link asked.

"A serpent living in the swamp. A very, big, serpent." Tifa replied.

"Put it into perspective." Link crossed his arms.

"I'd say twice as long as Sephiroth's sword."

Sora whistled slowly.

"That's a lot..." Sora commented. "As long as your not over exaggerating."

"Maybe longer." Yuffie added on.

"...It might be a good idea to steer clear of the swamp for now..."

"Where else would we go?" Link asked. "The only way out of Healin is either the cave on the other side," he started, remembering some of the maps Cloud showed him. "Or through the ocean. I can't walk over the ocean. Swamp, maybe. But not ocean."

"Walk over swamps?" Sora raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Easy... but until I find my weapons, it's impossible."

"Excuses excuses!" Yuffie exclaimed, apparently back to her hyper self.

"Let's see you walk on water." Link challenged.

"I can walk perfectly on water!" Yuffie snapped.

"Yeah, right." Link rolled his eyes.

"We're not really getting anywhere..." Riku commented.

"Riku's right." Link nodded. "If we're going to leave, we should leave now."

"At least wait until morning, to help with recovery efforts." Tifa urged. Link nodded.

"One night couldn't hurt." He shrugged. He took a step, then suddenly got dizzy and lost his balance, collapsing onto the ground, lying on his side.

"Link!" Everyone was at his side faster than a bullet.

"Link, you okay?" Sora asked, crouched down beside the Hylian. No response. "Link!" He shook Link's shoulder. The look in Link's eyes was frozen, and distant. "Link! Get up!" He urged. "Yuffie! Go get help!" He exclaimed. The Wutaian ninja nodded, darting off through the ruins of Kalm.

* * *

"You okay?"

Link moaned. The last thing he remembered was collapsing, and everyone darting to his side.

"You're awake!"

"I guess..." Link said wearily. He hadn't opened his eyes, too tired to bother.

"What happened back there?"

_Who's talking to me? _Link recognised the voices, but couldn't place them...

"I dunno."

"That helps." He knew that voice too...

"Sarcasm, much?" Link slowly opened his eyes, but his vision was blurred, and he couldn't see much.

"You just passed out on us, Link. We're not sure what happened. One second you were walking with us, the next you were collapsed on the ground."

Link rolled onto his hands and knees, his vision clearing. He looked at the four people next to him. He knew them, but he couldn't remember their names for the life of him.

"Can you remember anything?" Sora asked him.

"Hardly anything after the explosion..." He replied in a mutter.

"Let's find some shelter. It'll be dark soon." Riku told the others.

"We could go to the Chocobo Farm. It's not far from here." Yuffie suggested.

"That may be best." Kairi nodded. "We don't have many other options."

"Yeah." Link stumbled to his feet, steadying himself. "Let's just hurry." He stated. A silent signal or something went between the five of them, and they started walking.

There were mountains to their right, and the ocean was to their left. Ahead was a flock of giant emu-like creatures, yellow in colour, near a farm. A whistle was blown, and some of the birds darted back to the farm, and other ran away.

"Chocobos." Commented Yuffie. "Let's go." The continued on, but something on the closest mountain caught his eye, a swamp below...

"Guys, I'll be back." He started walking towards the mountains, got a grip on one of the rock walls, and started climbing up.

"Link!" Yuffie exclaimed. "Are you crazy?!"

"Nah." Link yelled back down. "Just out of my mind." He continued.

He climbed for a good hour, and night had come around, much to the four below's dismay, who could hardly see Link anymore.

Link was now over the swamp, glancing down every once in awhile, watching the shadow of a large serpent over the surface of the water. He reached up to the ledge where the glow was coming from, finding a red golf ball size orb. He reached out, getting his hands on it.

But the rocks below his feet gave way...

And he plummeted to the marsh below.

"WARK!"

Was he hearing things?

A flash of gold darted across the mountain above him...

_Feathers? _

Something caught him. Not a human, either...


End file.
